Worth Fighting For
by Neheigh Fluffydoodle
Summary: When faced with losing someone... Do you let go and lose hope? Do you give up and walk away? Or, do you make more memories... and cherish the time you have left? Do you make each moment count... as if its your last? Because you realise... The present is what's important. And, you should never lose hope. My personal Kuu and Julie cannon


**Just a warning I am Dyslexic so my stories will not be perfect but I now have one Beta reader to help me along the way :D**

**Thank you so much to rsrdiall for offering to work with me :D**

**Hello my sweeties,**

**This story is going to be completely and utterly different from any of my other stories**

**its going to be very different from any of my stories I've read I believe too...**

**Though saying that I've read hundreds of Fanfiction so there may be one out there somewhere like this :)**

**I'm not going to try and explain my idea I just hope you enjoy it. **

**Neh xxx**

**I do not own Skip Beat.**

* * *

"_**When faced with losing someone...**_

_**Do you let go and lose hope?"**_

Kuu was drunk. Well that probably would have been an understatement Kyoko decided as she gently tried to shake the older man she loved like a father.

"Otou-san...Otou-san..." her attempts were useless as the older man's head just lolled uselessly on his shoulders. The Taisho watched the girl he loved as his own as her face creased in worry.

"Get to bed Kyoko, I will sort out our guest." The normally silent stoic man never seemed to stop amazing his young boarder as she nodded.

His tone and wording left no room for argument as she bowed to the man she cared deeply for before turning and walking into the back room and up the stairs.

It had been four weeks since Kuu had arrived back in Japan. For weeks Kyoko had been doing her best to care for the man with a broken heart. The Taisho and Okami had watched Kyoko step up to the challenge and grow so much not only emotionally but also her maturity which had always been a big draw for both of the traditional people was suddenly years above her true age as she took it upon herself to help the man she loved.

"Kuu...KUU!" Taisho shook the man roughly and watched as his actions finally got through to the man.

"Come on old man I think its time you get to bed and sleep this off." All Kuu could do was grunt as the other man supported him towards the stairs and up to the second spare room and futon his wife had already prepared.

The Okami watched as her husband disappeared up the stairwell with their new friend and sighed sadly before grabbing the cleaning cloth and wiping down the counter he had been collapsed over for the past hour.

She didn't even startle at the soft knock on the front door. As she moved effortlessly across the room and opened it to another man who had become a good friend to the elderly couple because of Kyoko.

"Good evening Takarada-san, Sebastian-san." She smiled wider greeting the second man as she thought how the aid had gained his name.

"Don't worry, Taisho is popping him in bed and will be down in a moment. Please come in and sit with us." She bowed perfectly to the two men who both offered the kindly woman a soft smile as they entered the Darumaya establishment.

Lory smiled. He loved this little restaurant. It had become a place of comfort and support for his number one LoveMe lady and now most recently a haven for his heartbroken and stressed friend.

"Thank you, Okami-san As always you spoil us." he watched as the woman's face broke into a smile as she swatted softly at his arm.

"Leave off you great charmer and hop up on the stools over there. I will go see what we have left in the kitchen."

Sebastian couldn't help but hide a smile at the friendly interaction. It was nice to see people who would still treat one of the most powerful men in Japan like a normal human being even when he was dressed as Attila the Hun.

"Taisho!" Lory said happily when the stoic man reappeared down the stairs and grunted in recognition.

"I hope my friend hasn't been causing you too much trouble."

Taisho just shook his head as he grabbed some of the warm sake from the heater and four glasses before returning to the counter and seating himself with the already seated gentleman. Tipping the bottle towards Lory he watched for the man to nod before filling him a glass.

"No one stands on parade here," he commented sternly as he looked towards the aid who was still standing. He reached around for the kettle and poured a glass of the warm green tea and placed it before the second seat beside Lory. Sebastian took the hint as Lory nodded and he sat down besides him nodding his thanks.

"He's not causing trouble. He's polite and pays his bill with extra on top." the Taisho commented when his wife came to sit and join them carrying a small plate of delectable treats Kyoko had made specially for guests.

She was hoping Kuu, though he smiled and would eat a couple of the tasty treats would get back to normal. He had lost his ferocious unending appetite the day he lost her.

Lory nodded his acceptance towards the Okami as he picked up one of the small fruit tarts before popping it into his mouth with a happy smile.

"Kyoko's own recipe," she commented with a proud smile.

Yet again, Lory nodded and smiled more brightly at the mention of one of his favourite girls. The simple brow raise the Taisho offered Sebastian was all he needed to grab one of the small treats and nibble on it.

"Do we know when the first episode will be ready now?" the Okami asked as she sipped the warm green tea her husband had poured for her.

"Two weeks. We have set the first showing up for the 18th at 8pm." he watched the Okami nod and smile.

"Primetime. Hopefully it will get Kyoko some different types of roles after this. I know the antagonist roles have been getting to her. But she is truly such an amazing young actress I doubt anyone could play the parts she has played now. She owns the role." The people around him including Sebastian nodded as they slipped into silence.

"Any news?" the Taisho asked after the minutes stretched on. When Lory sighed they knew the answer before he spoke again.

"Nothing. Julie has a lot of friends all over the world. She could be anywhere." Lory rubbed his head, running his fingers through his hair as he wondered just where the woman was.

To just up and leave as she had, leaving behind the man she loved! No matter what she had said no one could ever believe or deny that the pair loved each other unconditionally. So why had she suddenly up and left? Why had she suddenly told Kuu she no longer loved him?

Lory simply refused to believe she had run off with another man as she had said in her note. But what had truly happened to the amazing woman that was Hizuri Juliena? And with her sudden disappearance what was going to happen to the now self-destructing Hizuri Kuu?

"This just has to work!" Lory stated smacking his hand down on the table for emphasis.

"How can you be sure she will even watch the drama?" the Okami asked as she tried to console the man with a tender touch on the hand he had slammed so forcefully onto the counter.

"Because my dear, she never misses anything when her son takes centre stage."

* * *

"_**Do you give up...**_

_**and walk away?"**_

Daphne looked at Julie as she walked out of the lounge towards the kitchen. Her husband Steven was sitting there quietly as he stirred his tea whilst reading the paper.

"They're still asking questions," he commented quietly as Daphne placed the empty mugs in the sink and sank down into the chair beside him.

"They're going to. Two of the most popular people in the industry just up and leave without explanation other than a note saying to keep up with their affairs via PO. boxes. I wonder if Julie planned it for the end of Kuu's project on purpose?" Daphne said as she leant to the left checking her best friend seated on her living room sofa.

Julia's eyes were glued to the T.V screen as she waited for the Japanese drama she had been waiting for to begin. Daphne wondered why the drama was suddenly being not only aired in Japan but also all over the world via multi-net channels on Sky, Virgin and so many other providers it was staggering.

It normally took them time to add subtitles to any of the foreign work and suddenly here was a drama being released all over the world at the same time in every country: 8pm on the 18th of June. And said Drama just happened to star not only her son, but also the husband she had suddenly up and left behind.

"Has she said anything yet?" Steven asked as he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"No. She still refuses to talk about it... I don't know Steve it just seems so..."

"Wrong?" Steven offered her the word which had been running through his head since Julia's arrival just over 6 weeks ago.

"Yes, there is more going on here, Steve. All I can do is worry that in the end it will truly be Jules who is most hurt."

Steven nodded sadly as he held his wife closely. They had had to be very careful with their displays of affection before their friend as she seemed to almost break inside when she saw their closeness. She had not said a word to either of them since her arrival only asking for a place to stay for a while to which they had instantly agreed. They had the room and Julie would have done it for either of them in a heartbeat. They just wished they knew how to help her more.

Julie watched the T.V screen with rapt attention. It had been pasted across all of the LME website. Tsuruga Ren's fan pages had been awash with the story of this record breaking attempt to bring the entire world a drama at the same time in every country on the same day and in every language possible. She knew there was something more to it, there just had to be. As she sipped the glass of water her best friend had given her... please... there just had to be.

Julie's heart leapt as the advert ended and the drama began.

* * *

The young lady smiled softly as she turned from the standing microphone before her and nodded towards the tall handsome man at the piano. He began the sweet tinkling tune before her voice joined in. Singing the sweet melody which was to be the drama's musical piece.

(*note one)

The beautiful woman held the microphone gently as she put all of her heart and soul into the music. Her full length white dress was simple yet elegant with a thigh high split on the right hand side showing off her mile long legs that ended with silver heels.

It was a simple setting. Everywhere was black apart from the young woman in white and the man at the piano in a white tuxedo seated at the beautiful oak grand piano. As they ended the first verse and chorus the orchestra came into view all the musicians dressed the same too as they added their melody to the beautiful voice and music. The scene faded away slowly as the music finished.

"Come on Takumi its just a harmless joke!" Hiro said as he and the others of their gang awaited the new recruit.

"I want no part of this Hiro," Takumi said as he crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. Hikaru had arrived but was unable to look up to the water tower they were waiting for him in due to the blindfold over the young man's eyes.

"Oh come off it Takumi! It's just some harmless fun. If he's so keen on joining a little jump won't worry him." Hiro said with a big smile as he watched the lads greet the new recruit. This was going to be a thing for the record books he had already decided as he smiled at his best friend who simply huffed and turned away.

It took a few minutes to get the young man up the stairs and to the platform they were standing on. Takumi watched as Hiro enjoyed his new found power reading through a fake initiation into a gang that was more like a old women's group, who met to sit around and gossip. It's not like they were out on the streets with guns and weapons fighting for turf. Takumi just wanted to go home as he looked down at his watch.

He looked over when Hiro moved Hikaru towards the edge of the tower and couldn't help but smile at the stupidity of his best friend, he supposed it really wasn't that bad. He watched as they spun Hikaru around before with one big push Hiro shoved Hikaru off the edge of the platform and towards the deep water below.

All the lads including Takumi laughed as Hikaru screamed on his descent he hit the water with an almighty splash. For a few more moments they all laughed until Hikaru didn't reappear instantly as they had expected. The laughter completely died as the body of the young man floated to the surface face down.

Takumi looked across at Hiro who had turned almost to stone as he stared down at the body of the young man in the water below.

"Hiro! Quick!" Takumi cried as he stripped off his T-shirt and kicked off his trainers before diving from the platform into the deep water below_. It was deep at least 60 feet! He should have been fine! It was a simple joke!_ Was all that was running through Takumi's head as he hit the water.

Surfacing quickly he swam to Hikaru's side and began dragging him to the side. He heard the other cars pulling off in a hurry as they skidded away across the gravel leaving behind the unconscious man and his rescuer.

"Shit!" Takumi cried as he sprinted to his car for his mobile then back to the unconscious man.

* * *

Takumi watched the disappointment in his father's eyes as he paid the bail fee for his son. He had refused to name the other people present during the 'initiation ceremony'. All his father Makino Outa could do was shake his head and sigh as he walked away from his son and the guard unlocked his door.

"He never really spoke much after that moment. I think I could have coped better if he would have screamed and shouted at me, but it was worse than that. My own father was beyond disappointed in me as he paid for the medical bills of the young man Tokaii Hikaru... the young man who would never walk again. It wasn't the depth of the water that had mattered, but the way his body had hit the water that broke his spine. His lower body had twisted. He no longer had the use of his legs."

* * *

"Makino Takumi, you have been charged and found guilty of grievous bodily harm to one Tokaii Hikaru. Do you have anything to say or any names to be given before we continue?"

Takumi could do nothing but shake his head as he stared down at his hands before him. Still I had refused to tell them the names of my supposed friends.

"_**I don't know why I did it, withholding the information. Maybe it was that little bit of hope they would have done the same for me in the same position. But really after the way they had ran from the scene of the crime I suppose that was a stupid thought really. It was me that had stayed, had awaited the ambulance and police only to be dragged to a cell when I explained how Hikaru had gotten to the state he was in when they had arrived. I have no idea why I didn't tell them their names then and there. But I didn't and I wonder now if it would have been different if I had?" **_

"Then Makino Takumi, I sentence you to eighteen months community service working at Sakura hall. I also fine you 346,164.00¥" (around £2000 and $4000.) Takumi nodded before he stood at the courts command, bowed and left the room by the side door which he had been led through.

"_**I had heard my mother Makino Amaya burst into tears at my refusal to give the names of the others who had been present at the scene, she too was disappointed with her son, but unlike my father she turned her emotions into tear's, I don't think I have ever seen my strong mother so upset maybe after the death of my grandfather, but this... her tears now cut deeper than any knife ever could as I knew I was the cause of her tears... me and my stupidity." **_

* * *

"_**I had been working at Sakura Hall now for almost 2 week's, the job wasn't hard just menial labour. Basically I was the Hall's dog or I suppose slave would be an appt description as I was pushed into an apron, rubber gloves and hair cover before being sent to clean every single toilet the first day. At first Naota and his wife Ichie were hard on me. I was simply pointed in a direction and told to get on with it before being berated when I did not complete the job satisfactorily. That first day I worked from 6am till 11pm with one break, as Ichie told me my cleaning was lackluster and shoddy. I didn't bother to tell her this was my first time cleaning toilets... saying that it was my first time really cleaning anything. Our family hired maids and a butler for all the things like this. We were of the higher classes I suppose.**_

_**It was just after the second week when Naota and his wife slowly started to become a little more softer towards me. I did work hard even If I did not always do it up to their standard and never complained. I deserved to be here and I knew it so why should I complain? They told me all about Sakura Hall and the work that was carried out here. I learnt from them that Sakura Hall was a specialist facility for children and young adults with behavior problems, disabilities and other such things. They came here to be educated, play and basically to have a place where they could simply be themselves. **_

_**I was horrified when they told me it was also a physio centre for people such as Hikaru when they came out of hospital for rehabilitation. I had not seen the young man whose life I had changed due to his injury. My father had of course, but the guilt I felt was simply too great to show my face before the man who would no longer walk due to my inability to control my foolish friends actions.**_

_**It was one of those days during my second week when I first saw her."**_

"Takumi let's take a break." Naota called as he stowed his rake and sat on one of the benches close to the south side wall. Takumi nodded as he placed the last scoop full of cut grass into the sack he was holding.

Looking out across the gardens and sports field Takumi sank to the bench beside the older man.

"It's a nice view isn't it?" Naoto asked as he passed Takumi a bottle of water before opening up his own.

"It is." Takumi replied as he opened his own water and drank deeply. The weather was hot and a little muggy as they watched a few of the people playing basketball on the courts.

"They plant all of this you know. The people who come here. They work in the gardens growing the goodness of the earth and all we have to do is cut the grass. There is nothing quite like the face of a child when they harvest the rewards of their labour." Takumi simply nodded unsure of what to say as he watched the game below. In a strange way he could understand. He had helped Ichie clean out the rabbits the other day just before one of the lower classes had come for their 'petting time' as they called it. Seeing their smiling faces had been enough to make Takumi realise just how much his working here did for the young children who Ichie had explained had mental disabilities.

It was a loud shout from the window behind them that drew their attention as a young man began screaming before jumping from the chair he had been seated on. Picking up his seat, he tossed it across the classroom towards the blackboard continuing to scream out in his frustration as a young woman with long black hair Takumi thought no older than himself crossed the classroom. Wrapping the boy in her arms and singing to the young lad she rocked him gently.

Takumi didn't know what to say as the beautiful golden eyes met his and hardened at the sight. Her eyes didn't linger but the anger he had seen there was all too real as she calmed the boy before leading him out of the classroom door. The teacher simply picked up the now broken chair and continued her maths lesson as if nothing had happened.

"She's amazing our Tohru. Such a shame, she's such a nice girl came here after her mother died a few years ago. I suppose she won't be with us much longer now either." Takumi couldn't keep his eyes off the door the beautiful girl had disappeared through.

"_**No matter what I tried after that, if Tohru saw me I would be completely ignored. Naota and Ichie always got warm welcomes. I just got the cold angry eyes of molten gold as I tried to ignore the guilt those eyes rose within me. I had been working at Sakura Hall for a month and a half when I finally did something that made the girl Ebina Tohru look at me. And honestly it had not been my goal, but I could not have been happier by the outcome." **_

"You OK?" Takumi asked the young girl who stood besides the basketball court staring up into the tree. Her small face was running with tears as she simply pointed up into the branches and the basketball stuck there.

"Ahh I see." Takumi commented before dropping the waste bags he had been taking to the incinerator. In three running strides he jumped up to the lower branches of the big cherry tree before skillfully knocking the ball out and to the waiting arms of the young girl. Dropping down to the ground he smiled at the now dry eyed girl.

"Is that better?" Takumi asked as he knelt before the young girl and pulled out one of the tissues he had stored in his pocket for emergencies. Handing it to to the young girl she smiled slightly and nodded.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" he asked realising she wore the middle school uniform for one of the special classes.

"It's maths. I don't like maths." she answered shyly as she looked away towards the school building.

"I'm not good at it and Shohei laughs at me when I get the answer wrong." She looked back towards Takumi who looked sadly at the girl.

"It's not very nice of Shohei to tease you just because you get the answer wrong." Takumi said sympathetically.

"Are you learning in maths at the moment?" he asked as the young girl once more looked at the schoolhouse and then back to him.

"Multiplication. We are supposed to be learning our sevens times table." Takumi nodded and smiled at the young girl.

"Do you like basketball?" Takumi asked quietly as she smiled and nodded.

"Well how about I show you a way to remember your times table using a basketball?" Takumi wanted to smile widely as the young girls face became alight with happiness as Takumi walked back over to the bag he had been taking to the incinerator and pulled out some of the worksheets that had been sent down to be burnt.

"Now we are working on our seventh times table correct." the girl nodded and watched as Takumi started placing down 7 sheets of paper equally spaced apart.

"Now what we are going to do is bounce the ball on the paper and then shout the number we get to as we shoot for the hoop at the end of the line ok?" the young girl smiled as she watched Takumi take the ball.

Bouncing it on each piece of paper he counted out loud to seven before scoring a basket and coming back to the start and continuing the counting as he tossed the ball into the hoop this time he called out.

"Two sevens are fourteen." which was the last number he had bounced the ball onto the paper.

"Do you get the idea?" he asked as the now very happy and smiling girl nodded before Takumi handed her the ball and they began their very improvised maths lesson together.

* * *

Tohru was in a panic as she raced through the school building. The support assistance had all been sent out in search of their wayward pupil Emi who had not come to class. Tohru knew that Emi did not like her maths class, but this was the first time she had ever just not shown up. By this point Tohru was beginning to panic as she ran around all the possible places the young girl could be.

It wasn't until she ran past the window on the third floor she noticed the two figures on the basketball court. One appeared to be a young man and the other was a child. Tohru's heart leapt.

"Of course! the basketball court!" she shouted out as she raced down and out of the building towards the court.

"EMI-KUN!" she shouted as she approached the two figures just as Emi shouted out

"Nine sevens are sixty three." the ball Emi had thrown just as Tohru had called her name missed the basket completely and rolled away across the grass behind the net as the now very red young girl turned to face the angry support assistant.

"**What do you think you are doing Emi-Kun!" **Tohru cried, not really angry at the girl simply rather relieved she had found her with no fatal illness or injury.

"I was doing my maths." Emi muttered as she stared at her feet, Tohru looked over at the seven sheets of paper on the tarmac and the janitor dressed young man she knew to be Makino Takumi.

"We do maths in the classroom Emi-kun, which is where you are supposed to be." she chided as Emi began to scuff her feet a little.

"And you! Don't you realise there would be people worrying about her! what do you think you were doing keeping her out here with you! Don't you have your own work to attend to!" Tohru looked meaningfully towards the sacks Takumi should have been taking to the incinerator before turning her cold golden eyes back to the man before her.

"Well maybe if people would realise Emi-Chan was being bullied in her maths class she wouldn't be hiding out here and having me help her with her maths." Takumi answered coldly. He was not doing anything wrong. Yes maybe he should have sent her back to class and yes he was doing a job when he had found Emi crying. But really the way this woman shouted at him was as if she thought he would have hurt the poor girl! He had only wanted to cheer her up and after hearing she had been teased about not knowing the correct answer he had tried to help her. Was that so terrible?

Tohru looked across to Emi as the girl seemed to sink in on herself.

"Is this true Emi-Kun? Who has been teasing you in class?" she watched as the young girl looked towards Takumi who from the corner of her eye she saw nod and motion towards herself.

"Shohei." was the whispered answer as Tohru felt like sighing. Shohei. It had to be him didn't it?

"Emi-Kun. You know Shohei doesn't mean it. Your brother is just acting out in frustration." Emi nodded slowly as she saw Takumi raise his head in surprise at the mention of the word brother.

"You know Emi-Kun it was Shohei that was really worried about you. He refused to sit down in the classroom without you there." Takumi watched as the look on Emi's face turned to one of shock.

"Really?" she asked slowly as if not believing Tohru's words. Tohru nodded and Emi looked contemplative as she turned again towards the school house.

"Why not go and show him you're OK?" Tohru suggested with an encouraging smile as Emi nodded before turning back to Takumi and bowing.

"Thank you for my help with my times table, I really think I understand it better now." Takumi smiled and bowed back.

"It was my pleasure, Emi-Chan. Now go and show your brother just how much you know." Takumi said with a cheeky smile and a wink thrown in for good measure. Emi giggled and nodded before turning and racing off across the grass towards the school.

Tohru looked down at the little game Takumi had set up for Emi and couldn't help but think it was actually a good idea. Emi and her brother both had a thing for basketball they had told her themselves before the car crash that had killed both of their parents. Her dad had been a really big basketball fan. She could feel eyes on her as she turned back to Takumi who seemed to be waiting on her.

"I'm sorry I did not realise the situation. I honestly only wanted to make Emi-Chan feel better." Takumi bowed before walking onto the court and collecting the paper before collecting his bags to continue on towards the incinerator.

"it was a very good idea, combining Emi's love of basketball with her hatred of maths." Takumi could hardly believe his ears as he spun around to look at the golden eyed girl again. But she was already walking back off towards the school. Takumi started after her for a little bit before shaking his head and carrying on with his work.

Ichie stood behind a tree and had watched the entire scene. She had to smile at the way Takumi turned a couple of times before Tohru was out of sight. The thing he never knew was Tohru did the same thing.

"_**That was the first time I really saw Makino Takumi. Until that point I had always thought of him as a stupid young man who didn't deserve the time of day. A stupid person who thought of other people's lives as toys he could play with at will, he had been in the year above me at high school. He was one of the popular guys always surrounded by girls and guys all who wanted to date him or be like him. But it was that day as I saw the happiness in Emi's eyes that I realised that maybe I had judged Takumi unfairly and could someone who would help a young girl just because she was upset really be such a bad person?"**_

* * *

As the final monologue of the episode ended the first showing tears rolled freely down Julie's face. The starting music rolled once more, but this time it simply played to the credits as the names of the actors and actresses rolled up on the screen.

**Makino Takumi - Tsuruga Ren**

**Makino Outa - Ryotaru Uesugi **

**Makino Amaya - Yuuko Nabatane**

**Ebina Tohru - Kyoko**

**Sato Hiro - Hidehito Kijima**

By this point Julie was sobbing softly into her hands as Daphne quickly entered the her friends distress she pulled her into her arms as she sat beside her on the sofa.

"There there sweetness. Come on tell old Daf what's wrong." But no matter what Daphne tried her sobbing would not cease. As Steven watched on from the kitchen door he wished once more he had not promised Julie he would keep her location a secret.

* * *

**(* Note one)**

**Kyoko is actually the singer of the introduction song, which will be explained a little later with Ren playing the Piano.**

**the song is:**

**Only Hope by Mandy Moore**

**It easy enough to find on YouTube and if a beautiful piece so please give it a listen :) **

* * *

**During the Drama parts of the chapter the**

_**Bold Italic**_

**writing is internal monologue for the character at that point, it was the best way I could make it stand out and I'm sorry if this confused anyone **

* * *

**Well guys? what do we think :P**

**I know it is a completely weird way of writing but I really do think it will be a good story or I hope it will :P **

**As i said at the start it really is different from what you are used too but I hope its not too confusing? **

**To begin with we are seeing real life, though as you will notice it is traveling a little faster normally in weeks and later probably days etc**

**Then we will be seeing it as if we were watching the drama that Kyoko, Ren, Kuu and a few other faces will be acting in. **

**This Fanfic is also going to be taking a different look at our favourite pairs relationship, We are going to be seeing their relationship through other people eyes and also the story, this will become more apparent as the chapters go on so I hope you will try and bare with me that it is a very odd story, but as I say I really hope it will be a good one :)**

**Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed it leave a review to let me know :D**

**Neh xxx **


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